Also see our Hot Topics page on Methamphetamines and Child Welfare.

Resources

• Screening and Assessment for Family Engagement, Retention, and Recovery
  The SAFERR monograph was developed in response to frequent requests from managers of child welfare agencies for a "tool" that caseworkers could use to screen parents for potential substance use disorders in order to make decisions about children's safety. Although research findings and practical experience have established that no single checklist yields the kind of information caseworkers need to make difficult decisions about whether children are safe, they have identified an array of screening instruments and practice principles that, if used appropriately, can provide timely information to guide those decisions. It also provides guidance on developing collaborative efforts to improve outcomes for families.

• Substance Use and Need for Treatment Among Youths Who Have Been in Foster Care
  This report from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration looks at the need for and receipt of substance abuse treatment among youths who have been in foster care. Youths who have ever been in foster care had higher rates of need for substance abuse treatment than youths who have never been in foster care. Youths aged 12 to 17 who were in need of substance abuse treatment in the past year were more likely to have received treatment if they have ever been in foster care.

• Substance-Exposed Newborns: New Federal Law Raises Some Old Issues
  The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003 added a number of new eligibility requirements for child welfare funding under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Among these is a requirement that states have policies and procedures requiring health care providers to notify CPS of “infants born and identified as being affected by illegal substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure.” This paper from the National Conference of State Legislatures describes the law, provides an overview of existing state reporting laws, discusses the role of CPS, and highlights the importance of prevention. (September 2004)

• Child Welfare Interventions for Drug-Dependent Pregnant Women: Limitations of a Non-Public Health Response
  In its 2003 amendments to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Congress adopted a policy requiring physicians to report to child protective services all patients who give birth to an infant affected by illicit drug use. Drawing on epidemiological, medical and social science research, this article from the University of Maryland School of Law critiques Congress's decision to require health professionals to engage in a surveillance role instead of a therapeutic intervention.

• SAMHSA Children's Program Kit
  The kit is designed to provide materials for substance abuse programs so that they can initiate educational support programs for the children of their clients in substance abuse treatment. The program will teach children skills such as solving problems, coping, social competence, autonomy and a sense of purpose and future. The toolkit has activities for children in elementary school, in middle school and high school. It contains information for therapists to distribute to their clients to help parents understand the needs of their children, and training materials including posters and videos for substance abuse treatment staff who plan to offer support groups for children.

• Bridging the Gap: Permanency Planning with Drug-Affected Families
  NRCFCPPP hosted a workday in November 1999 to identify collaboration strategies between child welfare and substance abuse treatment communities, and to develop protocols for achieving timely permanency for children with parents who are drug-affected. By Judy Blunt, NRCFCPPP Assistant Director.

• Understanding What Children Say About Living With Domestic Violence, Parental Substance Misuse or Parental Health Problems
  This literature review by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation finds that children facing a range of domestic circumstances which they might find difficult want to talk about these issues but rarely do so, particularly with professionals.

• Child Welfare Cases with Substance Abuse Factors: A Review of Current Strategies
  This issue brief from Voices for America's Children looks at the relationship between parental substance abuse and child maltreatment. The brief describes some of the promising practices states are using to address this issue.

• A Guide to Evidence-Based Practices on the Web
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides this Web Guide to assist the public with simple and direct connections to Web sites that contain information about interventions to prevent and/or treat mental and substance use disorders. The Web Guide provides a list of Web sites that contain information about specific evidence-based practices (EBPs) or provide comprehensive reviews of research findings.

• Substance Abuse Interventions for Parents Involved in the Child Welfare System: Evidence and Implications
  This structured literature review from the Center for Social Services Research focuses on interventions for substance-abusing parents in the child welfare system (CWS), as well as interventions for mothers and women in general. A review of collaborative models between the CWS and alcohol and other drug (AOD) systems is also included in this review.

• Alaska: Exploring the Links Between Parental Substance Abuse and Child Welfare: Increasing Understanding of the Research and Program Issues in Alaska
  This paper examines national as well as Alaska-specific data and information on the treatment issues related to child welfare and parental substance abuse.

• Maine: Universal Substance Abuse Screening for Families in the Child Welfare System: Policy and Practice for Family Assessments and Alternative Response
  Maine has a system for universal screening for substance abuse of families who have been referred to the child welfare system. Considered the first state to implement such universal screening, a group of dedicated policy makers, administrators, and professionals developed and implemented a system of screening policies and procedures that use the UNCOPE screening tool for identifying substance abuse issues in its child welfare family assessments. In addition, contract agencies providing alternative response services to low-to-moderate at-risk families also utilize the UNCOPE. For the first time, a uniform screening tool is part of the safety assessment completed for every case that is investigated or referred for alternative response.

• New York: Gearing Up to Improve Outcomes for Families: A Collaborative Practice Guide for Managers and Supervisors in Child Welfare, Chemical Dependency Services, and Court Systems
  This guidebook, developed for the New York State Office of Children & Family Services with technical assistance provided by the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW), is based on the premise that when substance use disorders affect children and families, children can suffer from abuse and/ or neglect. When this occurs, it is essential that the Chemical Dependency, Child Welfare and Family Court systems work together with families to achieve child safety, sustained parental recovery, and family wellbeing. This tool was created to serve as a desk reference for staff to assist in maximizing their effectiveness in working with families, and each other.

Curriculum

• Online Tutorials and Training
  The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare will offer four free online self-tutorials. The curricula in these self-tutorials will be geared toward four different target audiences and will work to establish a baseline for knowledge on the subjects of substance abuse and child welfare, and to support and facilitate cross-systems work. A certificate for claiming Continuing Education Units is available upon successful completion of each tutorial. The target audiences and topics of the self-tutorials are:
  • Understanding Child Welfare and the Dependency Court: A Guide for Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals
  • Understanding Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery: A Guide for Child Welfare Workers
  • Understanding Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Issues: A Guide for Judicial Officers
  • Understanding Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Issues: A Guide for Legislators

• Training Materials from Utah Division of Child and Family Services
  DCF developed a supervisor handbook and participant guide to implement a statewide training for child welfare supervisors and caseworkers, utilizing the NCSACW online tutorial Understanding Substance Use Disorders, Treatment and Family Recovery: A Guide for Child Welfare Professionals (see above).
  • The Participant Workbook contains Reading Questions based on the online tutorial to help caseworkers identify key concepts and support their knowledge acquisition.
  • The Supervisor Handbook allows supervisors to become familiar with the training materials and plan for training completion, follow up, and mentoring. The Handbook includes a discussion guide to evaluate what caseworks learned from the tutorial, what they have applied with families, and what they can do to support families affected by substance use disorders.

• Curricula from the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh
  • Drug and Alcohol Issues: An Introduction for Child Welfare Professionals
    This curriculum serves as an introduction for child welfare professionals on the topic of drug and alcohol issues and the connection of those issues to child welfare.

  • Supervisory Skills and Knowledge Related to Substance Abuse
    Supervisors will learn how to assess a worker's knowledge and skills related to 1) terms and concepts related to addiction, 2) psychological, physiological, and sociological impact of addiction, and 3) the stages of addiction and change. Upon assessment, supervisors will be able to assist workers in gaining/improving their knowledge and skills in working with families in AOD use/abuse. Supervisors will also learn the questions to ask a worker to insure their staff is providing an accurate child safety assessment.

  • Supervisory Skills and Knowledge Related to Case Planning and AOD Use/Abuse
    This course is designed as a supervisory level overview of case planning for families with substance abuse issues. Supervisors will learn how to assess workers' knowledge and skills related to the primary and secondary indicators of substance abuse in families and the criteria to use in assessing the effectiveness of treatment programs, assist workers in gaining/improving their knowledge and skills, and improve their own skills in assisting their workers to develop an effective case plan using the stages of addiction and the eco-map tool. This workshop focuses on supervisory level responsibilities and assumes you have the basic knowledge of AOD use and abuse.

• Working With Families: A Substance Abuse Curriculum
  This course is from the Georgia Department of Human Resources.

• Recovering Together Program
  These materials from Clarity Counseling include Women's Curriculum, Children's Curriculum, Materials and video Facilitator's Presentation. RTP is a is a year-long therapeutic and educational program for mothers and their children, serving mothers who need help with both child maltreatment and substance abuse issues. Staffed by a multi-disciplinary team, RTP uses culturally appropriate and theory-driven treatment methods that are creatively designed for women and children's special needs. The RTP design includes advocacy and case management services for families. These approaches were selected based on a literature review completed before the initial design of the RTP program and continued throughout the 3 years of field testing, formative evaluation, and modifications of the original model.

• Social Work Curriculum on Alcohol Use Disorders
  Social work educators prepare professionals to practice in a variety of settings where they have the opportunity to improve outcomes for their clients who either have an identifiable alcohol use disorder or are at risk for developing one. Lecture-ready modules, developed by top-named experts in alcoholism and social work research, support professional MSW education. Materials include Powerpoint presentations, handout materials, classroom activities, and accompanying case examples to extend student interaction with the subject matter. Modules can be used individually or as a series, and modified to fit specific teaching objectives. The curriculum covers current research in the areas of epidemiology, etiology, prevention, screening, assessment, intervention and motivational interviewing, legal and ethical issues, coordinated care systems, intimate partner violence, adolescence, women, older adults, homelessness, comorbidity, sexual orientation, refugees and immigrants, ethnicity, disability, and fetal exposure to alcohol.

• Putting the Pieces Together for Children and Families: The National Conference on Substance Abuse, Child Welfare and the Courts
  Plenary and workshop presentations from this conference (Jan 31- Feb 2, 2007.

• Permanency Planning With Drug-Affected Families by Judy Blunt and Myrna Lumbsden

• National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
  NCSACW is an initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services and jointly funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), Children's Bureau's Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (OCAN). NCSACW's goals are to develop and implement a comprehensive program of information gathering and dissemination, to provide technical assistance and to develop knowledge and its application that promotes effective practice, organizational, and system changes at the local, state, and national levels.

• National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children
  The National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children promotes the DEC team concept and public awareness for the problems faced by these children. The Alliance provides multi-disciplinary training for communities interested in starting or expanding DEC programs. The Alliance supports a nationwide network of professionals serving drug endangered children by providing referrals to experts, updated research on topics concerning drug endangered children, and best practice information.

• National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center
  This section of the AIA website contains resources related to children and families affected by substance abuse. In addition, internet links are provided to other organizations doing work in this area.

• Child Welfare Information Gateway: Substance Abuse
  Parental substance abuse is increasingly recognized as a significant factor in cases of child maltreatment. Find more information on this issue.

• Child Welfare League of America: Alcohol and Other Drugs
  This portion of the CWLA website deals with the ways AOD issues impact the child welfare system.

• Treatment Improvement Exchange: Women and Children
  The Treatment Improvement Exchange (TIE) is a resource sponsored by the Division of State and Community Assistance of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to provide information exchange between CSAT staff and State and local alcohol and substance abuse agencies. This portion of their website is devoted to substance abuse issues affecting women and children. Much of the material is of interest to those working with substance-abusing mothers in the child welfare system.

• Center for Substance Abuse Research
  CESAR at the University of Maryland at College Park is dedicated to addressing the problems substance abuse creates for individuals, families, and communities. To this end, the mission of CESAR is to inform policymakers, practitioners, and the general public about substance abuse—its nature and extent, its prevention and treatment, and its relation to other problems. You can subscribe to CESAR Fax, their email newsletter, for a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends or issues, or read them online.

• Alcohol Policy Information System
  This online resource provides detailed information on a wide variety of alcohol-related policies in the United States at both State and Federal levels. It features compilations and analyses of alcohol-related statutes and regulations. Designed primarily as a tool for researchers, APIS simplifies the process of ascertaining the state of the law for studies on the effects and effectiveness of alcohol-related policies.